


Points of View

by jaqtkd



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-21 00:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaqtkd/pseuds/jaqtkd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uther has just seen Arthur use magic in self defence.  Is this confirmation of the King's madness or is it all a matter of perspective.  One eventful morning in Camelot told from several different points of view. </p><p>Written and set after Series 3</p>
            </blockquote>





	Points of View

**Author's Note:**

> A short test on uploading a complete work in one go and subdividing it into chapters within the same post. Preparation for the Paperlegends Big Bang next month - because I'm still new to AO3 and finding my way around.

**Prologue**

(a drabble)

Of course, Arthur. That's just brilliant. I follow you to every boring meeting, every impossible quest, every ridiculous hunt, just to ensure that you don't get killed before your time and what do you do? You get yourself into trouble on the one and only morning in months that I'm not by your side to save you. Prat!

So now what, Arthur? What's the point of this glorious destiny we share if you're going to get yourself killed by a stray weapon during training. Clotpole! How do you expect me to save you now?

And you call me an idiot.

~o~0~o~

* * *

**1\. Uther**

_Knock, knock._

It was dawn in Camelot and King Uther was in his chambers, sitting by the window in his nightgown, whilst staring out at the slowly filling courtyard. He smiled faintly as he watched the scene below him, trying hard to think about absolutely nothing at all.

That was the only solution, he'd decided recently. Think of nothing. Despite the fact that numerous recollections and images trapped in the back of his mind were constantly knocking, asking to be let out.

_Knock, knock._

"Go away!" Uther shouted at the annoying memories.

The courtyard was getting busier now as numerous people starting walking back and forth through the gatehouse. They were mostly commoners at this time of day; merchants, guards, servants, a mother and child. Most of the noble born would only just be waking up, but Uther could now see one young, dark-haired lady in a purple dress, making her way towards the gate house, her path intercepted by a lone knight, his red cape flowing out behind him. He bowed deeply and the two exchanged greetings before he kissed her hand gallantly and, with a second bow, allowed her to continue on her journey.

A groom had now also entered the courtyard, struggling with a beautiful, spirited horse. The knight started forward, with the obvious aim to help to pacify the creature but, before he could intervene, the chestnut reared, the groom stumbled and the horse bolted out of Uther's line of sight. There were several shouts, quite audible, even from the King's bedchamber and a general commotion that lasted for some considerable time afterwards. Memories of long rides in the countryside tried to make themselves know. Rides with a certain, dark haired, pale skin young lady ...

Knock, knock.

"Go away!"

Uther suddenly realised that this time the knocking was real, that someone was outside his chambers but, before he was able to change the instruction, the door opened anyway. The King frowned at this obvious disobedience and his expression deepened as he saw a familiar looking, tall, thin young man with dark hair and large ears enter, rather than any of his usual attendants.

"What are you doing here?" Uther demanded of the boy.

"I've come to give you your medicine, Sire," he replied. His voice seemed respectful, the small bow executed competently but, somehow, Uther didn't feel he was being meek enough. The small, knowing smile on his pale face seemed quite inappropriate given the situation.

"No, no. It should be Gaius or … that pretty dark girl," Uther complained, turning back to the window.

"Sorry, Sire, but both Gaius and Gwen are busy this morning and so … you'll have to put up with me, I'm afraid." Uther turned briefly back to see the widest, most annoying grin plastered on the young man's face. He resisted the temptation to growl and turned, yet again, to the window. He was only half aware of the young servant behind him making the various, familiar noises of one tidying up, whilst most of his attention was held by the gathering crowd in the courtyard below and a familiar, grey haired figure, hurrying across the cobbles, his distinctive, circular medicine bag looped over his shoulder.

"What's so important that you're unable to attend me?" Uther muttered, in a annoyed tone.

"Sire? " the boy asked, coming over and handing the King a small vial of liquid. Uther pulled a face and took it off him, downing it quickly. He was pleasantly surprised to find a small glass of wine quickly offered to take away the taste and looked up at the servant with a frown. "Oh, I've had my fair share of Gaius' potions over the years, Sire. I know how bad they taste," the lad replied and Uther worked hard not to smile at the comment. It wouldn't do to show the servant that he'd found his comment amusing.

"You're Gaius' boy and … Arthur's servant?" he suddenly remembered. Behind him, unseen, the servant raised his eyes to the ceiling.

"Yes, Sire. I'm Merlin."

"I knew that." He continued to gaze out of the window.

"It looks like a nice day, doesn't it, Sire." Merlin chirped. "Why don't you go for a walk this morning? I know it's supposed to be an unlucky day today but I'm sure you don't believe in such superstitious nonsense, do you? I think a walk would do you good, don't you agree? Get you up and about? Look, it's warm and sunny out there and I'm sure Gaius wouldn't object. What do you say? How about we just ..."

"Shut up, _Mer_ lin," Uther interrupted and then turned shocked as the young man suddenly burst into uncontrollable giggles. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing … it's just that's exactly how … oh, never mind. Shall I get your personal servant to dress you or would you rather return to bed?"

"No, no. A walk. That would be quite acceptable, but _you_ can attend me this morning."

"Me? But Arthur, ah, I mean _Prince_ Arthur … it's just that he's really … I mean, I should ..." A stern glare from Uther quickly silenced him. "Yes, of course, Sire. " The boy gave a totally unsubtle sigh. "What would you like to wear today?"

The boy seemed most impatient whilst he was dressing him but somehow managed to keep up a never ending stream of one sided conversation the whole time, mostly about some new horse that Arthur had acquired recently.

"Do you always talk this much?" Uther managed to say, at last.

"Ah well, yes, Sire. I suppose I do."

"And how long have you been my son's servant now?"

"Let's see about … five years?"

"And he's put up with you this long because …?" the King asked. Merlin looked briefly hurt before a small smile crossed his face.

"I think perhaps I amuse him, Sire."

"The boy always did have an odd sense of humour," the King muttered in response.

~o~0~o~

The servant had left him in a bit of a hurry, leaving Uther still looking out of his window. He spent some time debating whether or not it was worth the effort to go outside but, in the end decided that it was just too nice a day to stay cooped up indoors. He had only walked as far as the corridor that lead to his son's chambers when he was suddenly confronted by a pile of armour on thin brown legs, moving quickly towards his position.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot boy!" he yelled. Merlin's legs slid to a halt and the armour he was carrying, rather unsurprisingly, ended up on the floor with a crash. Uther simply raised his eyes to the ceiling, wondering, yet again, why Arthur hadn't fired his servant years ago, before continuing on his way.

It really was a lovely morning, Uther thought. What an excellent idea of his, he should go for a walk every day. He had no particular direction in mind at first, just wandering around the grounds and then into a busy courtyard, before moving slowly towards the training ground. Arthur would no doubt be there by now and Uther suddenly decided that watching such a session would be a rare treat; one he had indulged in far too infrequently for his liking.

However he hadn't quite reached the field when a small lad of no more than six, suddenly ran straight at him, barrelling into his legs.

"What is the meaning of this?" Uther asked sternly.

"I can't find my Ma," the scruffy little peasant replied with a wail. "She was there, then there was a horse, then I got pushed … Do you know where she is?"

Uther was about to explain to the boy that he would need to give a rather better description than 'Ma' if he was going to find her in a place this size, when a nearby palace guard came towards them at a run.

"Idiot boy, how dare you touch the King, how dare you even _speak_ to him in such a manner."

Uther was bit considered to be the most sympathetic person in the world but even he thought that was a little harsh considering but, before he had time to even think of a response to the guard or the boy, the child burst into fresh tears and ran off again, closely persued by the soldier. Curious, Uther also walked in that direction until they were all in sight of the training ground.

The King let his gaze wander over to the field where Arthur appeared to simply be directing his knights rather than training with them. Not entirely impressed by this observation, Uther briefly noted the other knights all sparring in pairs and a servant that he didn't recognise was attending the knights and looking after the weapons, instead of Merlin. Even Uther had to acknowledge that he wouldn't have ordinarily noticed such a thing but, of course, after this morning, that especially annoying young man was still very much on his mind.

Uther's attention was then drawn back to the plight of the small boy, even as he remained vaguely aware of the clash of swords, and the general flash of red and silver to his left. The lad was now with the young lady that had been nursing him recently, the one Merlin had called Gwen but he knew as Guinevere and Uther briefly wondered where she had been earlier that morning.

The young, dark-haired lady had knelt down so that she was at eye level with the child, just as the guard again demanded the lad showed more respect to his elders and betters. Guinevere suddenly stood, her dark eyes flashing and Uther remembered a similar gaze levelled at him recently when he had refused her offer of medicine. He gave an involuntary shudder, very glad that the glare was not currently turned in his direction.

"How dare you," she demanded in a loud voice, placing a gentle hand on the child's shoulder. "He's just a frightened, lost little boy and you should be ashamed of yourself." The sound of weapons briefly subsided as most people's attention in the area was now drawn to this new scene.

"H-he shouldn't be here, m-my lady," the guard stuttered.

"He's … lost ..." she said, sarcasm strongly colouring her voice. "Which rather speaks for itself, don't you think? Honestly, you are so rude. Now, if you guards spent more time doing the job you were actually paid for and less time harassing little children, Camelot might not have half the problems it currently has."

Several people nearby started laughing. A few even applauded, whilst Uther struggled to work out exactly what she was implying.

A sudden warning shout distracted everyone's attention back to the training field as a knight yelled a warning to the Prince.

"Sire!"

Uther turned to see a sight that almost stopped his heart. It was as if he was seeing the whole thing in slow motion. The knights were all gaping in horror as a spiked ball of a mace headed at speed towards his son's unprotected head, the chain flicking viciously in orbit around it. Obviously distracted by the commotion with the small boy, Arthur had only just noticed the danger. Far too late.

The King watched in shocked disbelief as he saw his son raise a hand towards the offending object. As the Prince did so, there was a sudden shimmer in the air as a sparkling blue, translucent wall briefly appeared where his outstretched hand was and the mace fell instantly to his feet with a soft thud.

Magic.

Every single person's gaze was now on Arthur who appeared to be just as shocked as everyone else. Uther tried to move, tried to shout, tried to say something, but those little memories and thoughts started to knock a little louder in the back of his head and he decided that he couldn't cope with this at the moment. Couldn't begin to process what his eyes had just told him. Could not, would not believe that his son had just ...

_Knock, knock._

There was only one person he could turn to now. He had to find Gaius.

~o~0~o~

* * *

**2\. Gaius**

Gaius woke well before dawn, as was his usual practice, and immediately continued the work he'd left unfinished on the table the night before. After a while, he made his way up the stairs to wake Merlin and then came back to the main room to lay out some food for his ward - assuming the boy actually surfaced early enough to eat anything, that was.

Just as Merlin slouched sleepily down the stairs, running his hands through tousled hair, a knock sounded at the main door and Lancelot barged in, slightly out of breath.

"Sorry, Gaius. Oh, hello, Merlin … there's been an accident. One of the horses bolted. Can you come?"

"Yes, of course." Gaius picked up his medicine bag and then turned to Merlin who was now sitting on the stool, still looking half asleep and munching on a piece of bread.

"Merlin, can you take Uther his medicine this morning?"

"What about Gwen?"

"She's going into town this morning. Remember?"

"Oh, yes." The boy pulled a face. "Alright then, but you do know that will make me late for Arthur, don't you?"

"So, what's new?" The old man said with a smile as he hurried after Lancelot. Merlin gave him a sheepish grin before turning his attention back to his breakfast. "What happened?" Gaius asked the knight as they left his chambers.

"I was to take this new young horse out for a short ride before training," Lancelot explained. "A lovely animal, albeit a little headstrong, but Arthur suggested that I might be able to calm him. However, the groom did not have such luck."

"What injuries does he have?"

"The groom? None. At least, nothing more than a bruise or two. No, the horse got loose and bolted. It ran over this woman."

"Oh, that does sound rather worrying."

They had reached the courtyard now and Gaius quickly saw a crowd near the wall of the palace itself. He hurried over as quickly as his aching legs could carry him, Lancelot calling out for the crowd to let the physician through.

The lady was in a bad way but, despite a number of serious cuts and bruises, Gaius did not believe her injuries to be life threatening. He briefly assessed her where she lay before instructing Lancelot and nearby guard to carefully lift the woman and carry her back to his chambers.

Gaius winced as he followed the knight back up the stairs. Even though the young men were carrying a semi-conscious patient, the physician was still struggling to keep up with them. He already felt exhausted and it was still early in the morning. His mind flicked to the ideal potion to take to ease the ache he was currently feeling in his right leg.

Reassuring Lancelot that he could cope and that the knight should get himself onto training, Gaius hobbled around his room, collecting what he needed to treat the woman and also grabbing a potion for himself, too. Once he'd gathered everything, he moved a stool to his patient's side and sighed in relief as he lowered himself down on it. From here he was quite able to continue to tend her whilst also managing to take the weight of his aching feet and legs. Now he came to think about it, this incident had actually given him a good excuse to sit down for a while. A very rare occurrence indeed. Of course, the very moment he'd thought that, the door was flung open with a loud slam.

"Gaius, there's been an accident. Can you help me?"

It was going to be one of those days, obviously.

~o~0~o~

Satisfied that his two patients were now comfortable and in no real danger. Gaius wondered if he might just have a chance to sit down again. He'd had to practically run across half the castle for the first patient, and the sight of the second one had not exactly done much for his nerves either. He wondered what Arthur would say if he asked if he could retire next week.

The door opened yet again and Gaius groaned.

"Who's hurt themselves this time?"

"Ah, no-one," said the guard, looking a little baffled at the question. "At least, not exactly, it's just the King.  He's asking to see you."

"Asking?" Gaius said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah well, demanding, I suppose would be more accurate," said the man with a small smile, "but he is very upset. You see … there was this incident on the training ground today."

"Now what?" Gaius grumbled, but the guard simply pulled a face and held the door open for the old man. After another quick check of his two injured patients, Gaius hobbled after him.

The sight of Uther caused Gaius heart to drop. Recently, the King had started to recover a little, and the wild look in his eyes had been replaced by a calmer, if often rather blank, expression. Now, however, the manic look had returned. Uther was pacing, his jacket thrown carelessly on the floor, his hands clawing at his hair whilst he muttered constantly under his breath.

"Uther, whatever has happened?" Gaius asked, quickly moving towards the King and urging him to sit down on the bed.

"There was this mace and … it was magic and …. Arthur was … and right in front of everyone too … and he raised his hand and … it _was_ magic … but it couldn't have been but, how else could something like that happen?

"Slowly, Uther. Slowly. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

"I went for a walk to the training ground. There was this incident with a small boy and … I think someone got distracted and then … there was this mace heading straight for Arthur's head and he … I think he … no, I _saw_ him do it."

" _What_ did you see?"

"Arthur held his hand up and this magic wall appeared and stopped the weapon."

"Sire, I really don't think ..."

"I _saw_ it," The King insisted, frowning at the sceptical look he was receiving. "Everyone saw it, Gaius. How can it be true?"

"I'm sure it's not, Sire. Tell me exactly what you saw. What did this wall look like?"

"It shimmered – blue and silver, half glass, half water. It appeared as a wall, a shield, directly in front of Arthur just after he raised his hand."

Gaius shook his head trying to think of an explanation. He knew Arthur had no magic. He'd been quite certain of that even before Merlin's skill had reached the point where he was able to sense it in people and objects. Thank goodness the young warlock had an watertight alibi this time around.

"If it was magic then it's possible someone else cast it," Gaius suggested carefully.

"Why would a sorcerer use magic to protect Arthur? Unless he used it to attack him in the first place and then suddenly changed his mind." Uther shook his head at the thought. "No, no but … Arthur … he raised his hand and … I thought perhaps it was a futile gesture to protect himself at first but then ..." Uther continued his pacing.

"Sire ..."

"First Morgana, now Arthur. What can it mean? Is it my fault? Is it possible that …?" The King turned wild, fearful eyes on Gaius, before looking around, as if worried that someone might overhear. "Do you think that Arthur's birth might have something to do with it?" he whispered. "Was he tainted by the very magic that created him?"

"No Uther, that's just not possible.  You see..."

"Again, again, that choice comes back to haunt me. First my beloved Ygraine is taken by magic, then my daughter and now, now my only son is infected by it. Where did I go wrong? What did I do to have my two children turn to magic? Turn against me? Betray me?"

"Sire, please ..."

"Is there a chance he might not have know what he was doing?" Uther paused, his eyes blinking and Gaius held his breath, as his mind raced. That was a big question for someone like the King to ask. Despite everything, he just had to grab this chance - take this one golden opportunity, if for no other reason than to help Merlin and the destiny the poor boy fought with every day of his life.

"I believe it is possible for magic to be used instinctively in times of crisis, yes, Sire."

"No, no. I won't believe it. Arthur can't have magic. He wouldn't do this to me. He wouldn't."

"However ..."

"No, it wasn't Arthur - that wasn't what I saw." Gaius sighed as he saw Uther turn to him, his eyes now hard, all wildness and confusion gone, along with that fleeting chance at making him see reason. "Someone else used magic on the training field today and we need to find out who it was. We must find this sorcerer and punish him for his crimes."

"Sire, please? If such a person saved your son's life?"

"We cannot make any exceptions. I need to find out which one of them it was."

"Sire?"

"As I said, it wasn't just me there this morning. There were all the knights in attendance, a guard, that girl … ah, Guinevere and a boy, a little peasant boy ..." Uther's eyes lit up. "It was probably him." Gaius rolled his eyes. "I shall hold court this afternoon, Yes, that's what I shall do. Find someone who was there to collect names. I want everyone that I mentioned to attend. Everyone. And anyone else that's been suspected before, or we believe has had contact with sorcerers in the past." He turned back to Gaius with a frown. "That boy of yours? I don't remember seeing him."

"Ah no, Sire, he wasn't there."

"No, I remember wondering.  He's always hanging around Arthur. Far too much … not at all proper if you ask me. Still, he needs to be questioned too."

"Unfortunately that might not be possible, Sire. You see …"

"No, he needs to be there, and Guinevere and that little boy. See that it's done."

"Of course, Sire. If I might suggest you rest whilst all of this is arranged?"

"Yes, yes. A lie down. I think that is what I shall do."

~o~0~o~

Gaius was torn. He really needed to get back to his chambers and check on his patients but he also needed to sort this mess out. The King must have imagined what he'd seen but, if it was true that there were numerous witnesses, then it should be easy enough to find out what had really happened. As such, he was relieved to turn the corner see a familiar figure retreating down the corridor.

"Gwaine!" he shouted and the knight turned with a smile as he realised who had called him.

"Oh, hello, Gaius. Never a dull moment in Camelot, is it?" He strode back towards the physician and then frowned as he saw the old man put a shaky hand on a nearby wall to steady himself. "What's the matter?"

"A bit too much excitement for me, I fear."

"Of course. Are you sure you're alright? Can I help?"

"Yes. First, tell me if what the King's saying is roughly true."

"Well, considering our dear Monarch's grip on reality is about as secure as on a slippery fish, I can only imagine what he's actually saying ..."

"Gwaine!"

"However, if he's saying that a stray mace was threatening to ruin Arthur's pretty face and it looked for all the world as if the prince stopped it with magic then … yes, that's pretty much what we all saw."

"You really think Arthur was using magic?" Gaius asked sceptically and Gwaine burst out laughing. "What's so funny."

"Oh, it isn't really but then … if it were true? Oh, the delicious irony."

Gaius glared at him.  "Don't you ever take anything seriously?"

"Not if I can possibly help it. Honestly, I've no idea what really happened out there this morning, but it did seem pretty obvious that magic was used, yes."

"Uther wants to hold an inquest this afternoon," Gaius continued.

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Could you help me, Gwaine? I just don't have the energy to round everyone up and, seeing you were there …?"

"Of course. I'll make a list." He frowned. "Talking of being there. Where was Merlin exactly?"

"You mean, Arthur didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

~o~0~o~

* * *

**3\. Lancelot**

Lancelot was up much earlier than was his usual custom, but today he had a special duty to perform before morning training and, as Arthur had specifically recommended him for the task, there was no way he was going to decline.

The Prince had acquired a new, young colt. He was a beautiful creature, there was no doubt about that, but the grooms were saying that Arthur had made a mistake with this one, that it was far too wild, and that there was no way it could ever be tamed.

Merlin, of course, had taken to the animal instantly. He said that the horse was a kitten really, and then had instantly got a fit of giggles as he realised what he'd said. The warlock was convinced that he could train the animal himself but the Prince wouldn't hear of it saying that Merlin had no idea what he was dealing with and that if the horse threw him and he died, Arthur would personally come and kill him a second time as punishment for making him find a new servant. Lancelot smiled at the thought, wondering when Arthur was finally going to acknowledge just how much he cared for Merlin.

So, the job had been given to him instead and, it was true that he had a certain magic touch with horses himself, if not perhaps in the literal way that Merlin had. As Lancelot strode across the courtyard, he quickly caught sight of a familiar figure and changed direction. Gwen saw him too and gave him an open smile which had his heart suddenly pounding. He bowed deeply.

"My lady."

"Lancelot, honestly," she complained with a laugh.

"I admit I am surprised to see you out and about this early. Are you not attending the King today?"

"Not this morning, no. I'm to meet with Elyan in town. What about you? Will Arthur be two Knights short at training this morning?"

"I hope not. I am working with his new horse today." He looked up and say the animal being led by a groom through the gate which lead to the stables. "So, if you'll excuse me, my lady Guinevere." She laughed again but, when he raised her hand to his lips to kiss, she became suddenly nervous and flustered. Instinctively looking around to see if anyone was watching.

"Lancelot, don't. It doesn't help."

The comment was like a dagger to his heart but, he knew she was right. He loved her but then, so did Arthur and despite the uncertainty around _that_ relationship, there was now more chance than ever that she could marry her Prince after all. He had always respected Arthur, but now that he knew him better, that had respect had increased and begun to turn into a deep friendship. As such, Lancelot had vowed that he would serve him loyally, in every sense. The fact that staying here and being around the woman he loved was breaking his heart more and more every day was beside the point. In many ways, he loved them both and that made the situation easier in some ways and very, very much harder in others.

With another small bow he left Gwen to continue her walk into the lower town, whilst he turned back to find the horse now reluctantly being lead into the courtyard - constantly struggling and pulling at the reins the young groom was holding. Lancelot moved a little closer trying not to spook the horse any more than it already was but, it was too late. The chestnut suddenly reared violently, the action pulling the reins out of the boy's hands and causing him to fall hard onto the cobbles. Lancelot stepped in front of the horse, his arm raised, trying to block it's path so he had a chance to calm it but, it was not enough. Quickly skipping away, the horse turned and kicked out his back legs, causing the knight to jump backwards to safety, before bolting across the rapidly filling courtyard.

"Ware!" Lancelot shouted loudly, and most of the crowd turned at the sound. There were several screams as people tried to move away from the frightened animal as it skittered across the cobbles.

The groom ran to his side and the pair, plus a couple of nearby guards, approached the horse as he bolted towards the wall - Lancelot quickly picking up a small boy and depositing him behind him out of harm's way as he did so. There was no exit on this side of the courtyard which meant he could be cornered and contained safely but loud screams of a different kind indicated that they were already too late to prevent an accident.

Everyone surrounded the creature, not trying to approach or restrain it, but rather contain it in the corner until it calmed. Lancelot quickly assessed the situation, hurdled the nearby low wall that ran alongside the walkway and dashed up to the physician's chambers.

"Sorry, Gaius," he said as he entered the room and then, noticing he was not alone, "Oh, hello, Merlin …" He turned back to the old man. "There's been an accident. One of the horses bolted. Can you come?"

"Yes, of course." The physician picked up his medicine bag and started to follow him out, turning back to his ward who was currently eating breakfast.

"Merlin, can you take Uther his medicine this morning?"

"What about Gwen?"

"She's going into town this morning. Remember?" Lancelot scolded himself as the image of the beautiful smile she'd given him, rose unbidden in his mind.

"Oh, yes," said Merlin, pulling a face at the thought of the new duty he'd been assigned. "Alright then, but you do know that will make me late for Arthur, don't you?"

"So, what's new?" The old man said with a grin as they left the room. "What happened?" he asked the knight as they started down the first set of stairs.

"I was to take this new young horse out for a short ride before training," Lancelot explained. "A lovely animal, albeit a little headstrong, but Arthur suggested that I might be able to calm him . However, the groom did not have such luck."

"What injuries does he have?"

"The groom? None. At least, nothing more than a bruise or two. No, the horse got loose and bolted. It ran over this woman."

"Oh … that does sound rather worrying." They had reached the courtyard now and Gaius quickly assessed the woman before instructing Lancelot and a guard to take her back upstairs. By the time they'd arrived back, Merlin had gone - which reminded the knight that the morning was progressing quickly and it was almost time for Arthur's training session.

Despite this Lancelot was torn; Gaius looked exhausted and in pain from his long walk down to the courtyard and back up again and could probably benefit from his assistance, and he would also need to check up on that horse and ensure it had been safely returned to the stables. He pulled a face. Arthur would not be impressed by this latest turn of events.

"Don't worry about me, lad," Gaius said as if reading his thoughts. "I don't believe her injuries are life threatening and there's honestly nothing more you can do here now."

"Are you sure that you're alright?"

"Aches and pains are just part of life at my age. Thank you for your concern but I'll be fine. You get off to training now."

So, it was back downstairs to help the groom take the horse back to the stables, and plead with the stable master to spare the animal's life until he'd spoken to the Prince, before running over to the training field, wondering how he'd manage to find the energy or focus to cope with one of Arthur's typical sparring sessions. He was definitely not looking forward to facing the Prince and having to explain exactly why he was so late this morning.

To his great surprise, he turned up to find that Arthur hadn't arrived yet. Lancelot let out a long sigh of relief, and then felt amused at his own reaction - acting like a naughty child who had managed to get away with a prank without his parent noticing. Gwaine however, _had_ noticed and grinned broadly as he handed Lancelot a shield.

"Now then, fancy that. I arrive before you _and_ Arthur. Who would ever have thought it. What kept you? Late night?"

"No, eventful morning. Where's Arthur?"

"No idea, also running late, I expect. Of course, you know who he'll blame for that?"

"Merlin, of course. Oh, actually it probably is because of Merlin or rather …" Lancelot's shoulders sagged as he realised that the horse incident had had a knock on effect on the whole of Camelot this morning. "An eventful morning, as I said," he finished, deciding it was all far too complicated to explain right now.

So, he sparred with Gwaine, whilst Lancelot and Leon also fought together, along with a few other pairs of elite knights. Arthur arrived shortly after, looking slightly flustered and, surprisingly, unattended by his constant, lanky shadow. Gwaine looked at Lancelot quizzically but he just shrugged in reply. The King had probably detained Merlin further, which would not have impressed Arthur he was quite sure but, before Gwaine could enquire about the whereabouts of the Prince's manservant, Arthur had a question of his own.

"Where's Elyan?"

"He asked for the morning off if you remember, Sire?" Leon replied. "Something to do with the blacksmith's workshop?"

"Oh yes, of course. Well come on then, why have you lot stopped training? Seeing we're an odd number I'll just watch for a bit. See which one of you is in the most need of my expertise." In front of him Gwaine raised his eyes before they swapped over and continued their sparring, Lancelot now attacking Gwaine.

A little while into the session, they were all distracted by a sudden commotion off to one side of the field. Lancelot glanced over briefly and was surprised to see Gwen with a young boy whilst a guard and the King quickly approaching her position.

"Lancelot, concentrate. Are you going to attack me or just stand there like a love sick puppy." He glared at the rather too gleeful look on Gwaine's face.

"I have no idea to what you are referring," he said haughtily.

"Yes right, of course you don't, mate," his friend retorted, still grinning broadly.

"How dare you!" Gwen's voice echoed loudly around the training grounds and Lancelot tried hard not to turn around, although he could see that, by now, neither Gwaine nor Arthur were entirely focusing on the training either. "He's just a frightened, lost little boy and you should be ashamed of yourself."

Lancelot heard the guard mutter something and Gwen start to reply, her voice suddenly becoming louder on the last word. He swung at Gwaine again, meeting his shield with a clatter. His opponent then pushed firmly back and so Lancelot started to prepare for another attack.

"Now, if you guards spent more time doing the job you were actually paid for and less time harassing little children, Camelot might not have half the problems it currently has."

Trust Gwen to say that, just as he was taking aim. Gwaine's loud guffaw didn't help matters either and Lancelot watched in horror as the mace suddenly left his hands and arched across the field, straight towards a grinning Arthur, who's attention was unfortunately now also firmly fixed on his love.

"Sire!" Lancelot shouted.

It was as if he was seeing the whole thing in slow motion as the weapon headed inexorably towards the Prince's unprotected head. His shout had now alerted Arthur to the upcoming danger, but too late. Far too late.

Arthur raised an arm, probably an instinctive, if futile, gesture to protect his head but, it seemed that it was his hand he held out, rather than his more sturdy arm and then, to Lancelot's total surprise, there was a sudden shimmer in the air as a sparkling blue, translucent wall briefly appeared in front of the Prince and the mace fell harmlessly at his feet.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be joking," he heard Gwaine say in front of him. Whilst everyone else stared in disbelief at Arthur, who seemed even more shocked than they did, Lancelot was the only one that looked around instead, quickly scanned the field to see where Merlin was.

It had to be Merlin, right?

There were so many people watching, all starting in shock at Arthur, all quite convinced that they had just seen the Crown Prince of Camelot perform magic in front of his father. It might even be funny if it weren't so worrying.

As Gwaine started to make his way over to the Prince and Gwen continued to deal with the young boy, Lancelot moved towards the low wall behind the training field, confident that was the only place Merlin could have hidden himself effectively, only to find the space unoccupied. After another quick look around the immediate area, he started to walk towards the Palace determined to find out where the young sorcerer was and exactly what sort of mischief he'd managed to get himself into this time.

~o~0~o~

* * *

**4\. Gwen**

Gwen was up even earlier than usual and quickly dressed herself before that annoying maid came in and suggested she assisted her. She may well be living in the palace now and been given a higher status thanks to Elyan's promotion, but there was no way she was going to have a servant. Not even Arthur would be able to persuade her to do that.

Anyway, today she was looking forward to a little taste of her old life. Elyan had managed to find another blacksmith to take over their father's old workshop and, although her brother still wanted to keep his hand in from time to time, there was no way he could seriously be the town's main blacksmith and an honoured Knight of Camelot. So, this morning, Gwen was going to meet with him and this new man and help negotiate the takeover.

Their father's cottage and workshop, along with most of the houses and businesses in town, had belonged to the Crown. All residents paid their rent to the King in the form of taxes, knowing that, as such, they were guaranteed a roof over their head so that they could be profitable members of the Kingdom. When Gwen's father had died, Arthur had promised her the house for life but, what she hadn't realised at the time, was that the prince had actually gifted it to her - even if the workshop ownership had remained with the Crown. Following Elyan's return, Arthur had quickly accepted her brother as the tenant but, after Knighting him, had awarded him land, as was customary, and officially gifted the cottage and blacksmith workshop to Gwen. As such, she was the official landlady of both properties and would now be earning rent from the new blacksmith and his family.

The whole idea took quite a bit of getting used to.

She was on her way out of the courtyard when Lancelot approached her position. Her heart jolted in that all too familiar way, where it seemed uncertain whether to be pleased, excited or fearful every time she saw the handsome knight. Doing her best to remain calm she turned to face him and exchange pleasantries, quickly relaxing as he bowed and started to address her as 'my lady', much to her amusement. Of course, he'd called her that even when she had been a simple servant but, she supposed that, this time he was officially correct. She owned property and her brother was a knight; only nobles were entitled to either honour which did indeed made her Lady Guinevere.

Apparently, Lancelot was up early to help with Arthur's new horse. She knew all about it, of course. The Prince had been talking about nothing but since he'd acquired it, quite convinced that it would be the fastest, most wonderful horse in the world once it had been properly trained, whilst Merlin kept going on about it as if it was some sweet little puppy dog. She had seen the animal close up just once and seriously had her doubts on both counts. Before she even knew what he was doing, Lancelot had grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss. The shiver that ran down her spine was wonderful but, again, she felt confused and guilty, even though she know she had done nothing wrong.

It wasn't as if she felt guilty for any particular act. Neither she nor Lancelot … nor Arthur, for that matter, had behaved inappropriately at any point, it was just that she felt guilty because her very existence appeared to be causing Lancelot pain now and had, before recent events, cause Arthur much the same. And she was quite aware that all three of them, plus all their other friends felt highly uncomfortable when they were in the same room together and that just made it all very much worse and left her feeling even more guilty.

Ridiculous really but, she had made her commitment to Arthur now and that should be enough. However, the real problem was Lancelot and his highly over placed honour. Anyone else faced with this situation would simply leave. Elyan used to do that all the time, she mused. Faced by any situation or emotion that seemed a little too much too handle, her darling brother would simply pack his bags and go, usually leaving her to deal with the fall out. But Lancelot was not Elyan and he would not leave now, no matter how much he was hurting, simply because Arthur needed him.

What was it about the Prince anyway? Anyone would think he had magic the way everyone was drawn to him. It seemed that just about every single woman and man she knew was in his thrall - not just her and Lancelot but Merlin, of course, and Gwaine? I mean, she knew the handsome rogue would say he was just hanging around for Merlin's sake, but Gwen didn't think it was as simple as that.

It was as if Arthur was a flame and they were all moths, helplessly drawn to circle around him despite their nature and better judgement and the problem with that, to continue the analogy, was that this particular flame was probably going to draw them in too close at some point in the future and they were all very likely to get burnt.

~o~0~o~

A little while later, Gwen was making her way back into the castle grounds, whilst Elyan continued to show the new tenant around his new house and business. She had barely made it past the gatehouse when she heard the familiar sound of the clashing of swords and, quite unable to resist, found herself drawn towards the training ground.

" _Moth ... flame,"_ she found herself thinking with a shake of the head. However, she had barely reached the edge of the field when a young boy ran past, almost knocking into her. Quickly and gently she moved forward to slow his pace and prevent him from running onto the field. She crouched beside him to see his face wet with tears, his eyes red and swollen.

"Hush now," she said, fishing out a handkerchief from her sleeve. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I'm lost. Can't find Ma. Nasty man chasing me." The boy pointed over her shoulder and Gwen turned to see a guard quickly approaching followed, rather surprisingly, by the King. She twisted her lips in a wry smile as she wondered which 'nasty man' the boy was referring to.

"The guard?" she guessed and he nodded. "What's your name?"

"J-john," the boy sniffled.

"When did you last see your Mother, John?"

"Ages ago. There was a horse … and a knight."

"Ah ...?" she replied, confused by the comment.

"There you are," the guard said crossly as he caught up with the boy. "Again you bother your elders and betters. You need to come with me before you cause any more trouble." Gwen felt anger suddenly fill her at his unfeeling words.

"How dare you," she demanded in a loud voice, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "He's just a frightened, lost little boy and you should be ashamed of yourself."

"H-he shouldn't be here, m-my lady," the guard stuttered.

"He's … lost ..." she said, her fury making her unaware that almost all of the attention was now on her. "Which rather speaks for itself, don't you think? Honestly, you are so rude. Now, if you guards spent more time doing the job you were actually paid for and less time harassing little children, Camelot might not have half the problems it currently has." There was the sound of muffled giggles and spontaneous applause. Gwen blinked and looked around, quite shocked at the enthusiastic reaction to her rant.

"Sire!" Lancelot's familiar voice drew all attention away from her and she reacted too, hearing terror fill the knight's voice.

Gwen turned to the field to see a mace arching over the training field and heading straight towards Arthur. She tried to scream but her voice refused to obey and as she clasped her hands over her mouth, she felt two small arms wrap around her leg as the boy grabbed hold and buried his head in her skirts.

Arthur had only just noticed the danger and there seemed there was nothing he could do to prevent the inevitable. He reached a hand out. Perhaps to protect his head? But … something was happening. What was that? Did Arthur just …?

She watched in shock as the man she loved appeared to raise his open palm towards the ongoing mace and then, with a small crackle of blue energy, a barrier suddenly appeared in front of his hand and the weapon hit it with a crackle before thudding harmlessly to the floor.

Gwen's gaze flew immediately to Arthur's face and saw total shock and confusion written on his face. He just stood there, staring at the arm as if it didn't belong to him, before slowly turning it to bring his palm closer, gazing in awe at the area that had apparently just created the shield. Gwen shook her head, not understanding.

"What happened?" Her attention was drawn back down to the small boy who had now dared to peak out enough to notice that the Prince was not injured and everyone else was shocked into silence.

"I have no idea," she admitted. Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of what she'd just seen. Finding out that Morgana had magic had been a shock but, afterwards, when piecing all the facts together, it did make some sort of sense. However, Arthur having magic made absolutely no sense at all - not least because of the way he'd been raised by Uther to always uphold the law. Morgana had always been a rebel – Arthur a conformist. Having just thought of the King, she suddenly remembered that Uther had been close enough to see what had just happened and turned around in time to see him practically running back to the castle. "Well, that's not going to help his recovery, is it?" she mused.

"I want my Ma!" the boy wailed, bringing her back to more mundane issues.

"Well, of course you do. Do you know her name?"

"Ma."

Ah … yes but, what does your Pa call her?" The boy frowned and appeared to be concentrating very hard on the question.

"Mary," he said finally.

"Not much more helpful, really," she said with a smile. "Well then, you just come along with me and let's see what we can do, shall we?"

She quickly threw a look over her shoulder to check on Arthur to find that he was with Gwaine, the knight holding him firmly by the shoulders and escorting him away from the still stunned audience. She would go to him later, she decided. Arthur often said he found her presence a comfort and so, of course, she would try and help him through this although, at the moment, she didn't have any idea what she would say.

By the time she and John were back in the palace itself she'd managed to get just enough information out of the boy to make an educated guess at what happened to him earlier. They had just reached the base of the stairs that housed the Gaius' chamber's however, when she found herself faced with the physician himself, obviously on his way out.

"Gwen?" the old man asked. Looking very tired and flustered.

"Was a lady called Mary brought here after an incident with a horse?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know her name but, I do have such a patient, yes."

"Is she .. alright …?" she continued, pointedly looking at John.

"Ah … her son?" She nodded. "Well, she will be alright but she's resting at the moment and I've another patient in there who shouldn't be disturbed either. Why don't you take the boy to the kitchens, get him some food, and I'll send for you a little later?"

"Yes, of course but, Gaius, something happened this morning ..."

"Sorry, Gwen, the King has called for me and ..."

"Oh yes, right. You'd better go and see him then, I think that's probably rather more important at the moment." Gaius frowned at her in confusion but she ignored the look, simply taking the boy by the hand and changing direction to head towards the kitchen. "Rather you than me," she muttered under her breath.

She changed direction and, still holding the little boy's hand, started towards the kitchens. To her surprise she found Gwaine heading in the same direction.

"Ah," he said with a broad smile. "It's the Damsel in Shining Armour with her Knight in Distress. Nice comment about the guards, by the way."

"Ah … thanks, I think? Where's Arthur? I saw you with him afterwards."

"He's a bit dazed. I just left him in his chambers and thought I'd go down to the cellars and grab some wine ..." She glared at him and he laughed. "For your precious Princess, of course, my noble knight, not me. Well, I admit that I won't say no if he offers but, honestly, he really looked like he needed it."

"Well for once, perhaps you're right. Tell him I'll be along to see him soon, will you?"

"Ah now, I'm sure _that_ will help him forget his troubles far better than wine ever could," Gwaine crowed.

"I shall not even dignify that comment with a response," she replied haughtily, parting company with the knight as they separated at the top of the cellar steps, his soft chuckle still audible as he descended.

"Gwen, have you heard what they're all saying?" said a young kitchen maid as the pair entered the kitchen.

"I don't know, Emma, _what_ are they saying?" she asked with a weary sigh.

"That Prince Arthur did magic, in front of all the knights and King Uther himself?" the girl said gleefully.

"Ah …?"

"I really don't think he should have done that," John piped up. "Doesn't he know magic's banned in Camelot?"

~o~0~o~

* * *

**5\. Arthur**

"Ware!"

The shout from the courtyard was quite loud enough to wake Prince Arthur up, despite a closed window and a couple of storeys in-between. He tried hard to go back to sleep again but, despite the fact that the worst of the noise had started to die down, there was still too much of a commotion going on for him to stand any realistic chance of falling asleep again.

With a grumble and several choice swear words, Arthur dragged himself out of bed and over to the window to find numerous people hurrying across the square, most of them to a point below his window that was just out of view. He threw the window open and leaned out, but could see nothing more than several people looking at something that he couldn't see. Still, from the amount of people out there it was quite obviously past the time he was usually up and that could mean only one thing.

Merlin was late. Again.

With several more swear words, these ones all directed at his absent servant, Arthur started to dress himself in the clothes he wore under his armour, ready for the training session and then sat down at the table, wondering if he could really be bothered to roam across the palace looking for that lanky idiot.

His rumbling stomach had just made the decision for him, when the door of his chambers crashed open and Merlin barged in backwards, holding a tray of food in his hands.

"Sorry … here's … breakfast," he gasped.

"Merlin, where …?"

" _Really_ good excuse this time," he continued breathlessly as he placed the tray on the table in front of Arthur. "Just off to get … your armour … enjoy ..."

"Merlin!" he shouted, but the young man had already left. Arthur sighed and quickly started to tuck into his food.

An annoyed shout, followed by a loud crash outside the door announced the return of his servant and, after giving an amused smile at what had probably just happened, Arthur quickly finished off his food as he heard Merlin pick various bits of armour back off the stone floor. A few moments later the door was shoved open by his back again and he almost fell in the room, arms full.

"Sorry, you see ... it's like this," Merlin continued as if he'd never left, putting the armour down on the other side of the table. "Lancelot came to get Gaius because there was an accident and so Gaius asked me to go and give your father his medicine, but then the King wanted me to stay and help him dress so that he could go out for a walk and so obviously I couldn't say no and so I did that and then..."

"Enough, fine … I get it. If you carry on like that we're going to be even more late for training."

"You're not going to put me in the stocks?" Merlin asked with a huge smile plastered across his face.

"Don't tempt me," Arthur growled in response.

"Alright so, let's get you ready."

"You better not have dented that when you dropped it outside."

"Oh, did you hear that? Sorry, but I was trying to make up for lost time after everything that's been going on, but then it's not really surprising seeing it's a Dismal Day."

"A what?" Arthur said baffled, looking out at the bright blue sky outside.

"You know? Dies mali? Dies Aegyptiaci? One of twenty four days in the year that the Egyptians believed to be unlucky?" Arthur stared even harder. Not because he'd not heard of the superstition, but rather that he was stunned that his servant, a peasant, appeared to be well versed in its history. As well as other languages, apparently.

"Superstitious nonsense," he replied simply and Merlin laughed brightly as he continued to help Arthur on with his training armour.

"Right, all ready," Merlin chirped enthusiastically, shortly afterwards.

"About time. You do realise how late we are, don't you?"

"Sorry," he replied with a shrug, neither looking nor sounding especially apologetic. Arthur shook his head in mock annoyance and started out towards the door - Merlin following closely. "Of course," his servant continued, "you do know that _you_ were born on a dismal day, don't you?"

"Watch it, Merlin," Arthur snarled, pointing a finger at Merlin as he turned aggressively towards him. There was absolutely nothing funny about being reminded that his birth day was also his mother's death day and so, quite obviously, not remotely lucky. Merlin seemed to quickly accept his mistake though, because he held up his hands in apology - whilst on an especially narrow step - his guilty look slowly turning into one of horror as he lost his balance and tumbled head-first down the final ten stone steps.

"Merlin!"

~o~0~o~

Arthur entered Gaius' chambers in much the same way as Merlin had entered his earlier; Backwards, pushing the door open with his shoulder, whilst carrying a heavy load. In his case, that load was an unconscious Merlin. The young man had seemed surprisingly light when he'd first picked him up, but several corridors and a few flights of stairs had Arthur quickly reassessing his initial thought.

"Gaius, there's been an accident. Can you help me?"

"Sire?" Gaius looked up from his inspection of a patient on hearing the familiar voice and just as quickly turned pale as he saw who he was carrying. "Merlin?"

"Sorry ... we were running a bit late, he slipped and fell and … he's still breathing but I think he bumped his head." The lady that Gaius was currently treating was lying on the one cot reserved for patients and the physician was now looking around urgently, concern etched onto his face.

"You'd better put him on my bed, Arthur."

"Of course." The Prince placed him down and the stood back up with a groan, stretching and rubbing his sore shoulders. Gaius managed to shoot him a weak smile.

"Not quite as light as he looks, is he?"

Arthur simply gave a grunt as a reply. "Well?" he asked when Gaius hadn't said anything after several long moments of inspection.

"Heart and breathing is strong – his eyes look fine. He does have a big bruise on his head but ..." The old man sighed in obvious relief. "One can never be certain with head injuries but, my thought is that it could have been a lot worse. Could you just help me undress him, Sire? I suspect there will be a few more bruises to tend to and, after the morning I've had, I don't think I have the strength to even lift him enough for that."

"Of course," said Arthur, wincing as his servant's shirt was removed and he saw various cuts and young bruises on his pale flesh. He then looked closer and frowned in surprise at the number of other old scars and wounds that lightly decorated various parts of his body. "What on earth has he been up to?" he asked, almost to himself.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Gaius replied without a pause. Arthur stared at the physician suspiciously whilst the old man continued to fuss over Merlin for a while before going over to his shelves to collect some bottles. Arthur stared at his servant for a long time wondering at his sudden feeling of guilt when he knew that he hadn't really been the cause of Merlin's fall but still, the young man was his servant and his responsibility.

He was, of course, rather more than that too, but it was far easier to be concerned as a master rather than as a friend.

"Sire? Shouldn't you be at training?" Gaius asked eventually.

"Well yes, and I'm very late but ..." He hesitated, looking down again at Merlin and wondering about his strange reluctance to leave his servant's side.

"There's nothing more you can do here now, Sire. I honestly think he'll be fine. The boy's a lot tougher than he looks."

"He certainly is." Arthur's reply was heartfelt.

"I know you're worried about him but I promise I'll let you know if there's any change one way or another."

"Worried? I'm not worried. Not about Merlin, why would I be?" Arthur insisted and then quickly coloured as the old man gave him 'the eyebrow'. "Ah, right so … he's obviously in capable hands and so, if you'll excuse me, Gaius, I have knights to train." And he quickly left, missing the amused grin the physician threw at his retreating back.

~o~0~o~

He was late. Not only that, he was later than Gwaine, which was especially worrying. Still there was no reason to let on that there was a problem and certainly not worth either worrying Merlin's friends or risking the teasing he'd get from a certain knight if he as much as hinted that his lateness was due to carrying Merlin half way across the castle, cradled in his arms. Arthur gritted his teeth at the thought of Gwaine's face if he ever found out, and the training quickly began in earnest.

Elyan was missing this morning because he was in town, welcoming the new blacksmith and showing him and his family around. Arthur had enjoyed having the opportunity to reward his new knights with land, and gift Guinevere her own property in the process. Her face when he'd told her what he'd done was a picture and, once she stopped pretending to be cross with him for it, he was looking forward to earning a kiss or two from her as a thank you instead.

Not that he'd done it for that reason, of course, but thinking about receiving such a reward was definitely brightening up this especially dull training session. Talking of which, the object of his little day dream was now coming into sight, kneeling down to talk to a small boy. Arthur smiled again as another little dream flitting into his mind on seeing such a cute sight. He _would_ make it happen, he _would_ make her his Queen, he was quite determined.

He was further distracted by the sight of his father, apparently heading over to the grounds to watch today's training session and Arthur groaned. He'd always dreaded the days Uther had come to watch him when he was younger as he knew that, no matter how much the other knights and his instructors praised him, he was guaranteed a post mortem from his father later that day, that would include the several hundred errors he'd apparently made. Arthur couldn't decide whether or not the fact he was currently teaching and not actually training was a good or a bad thing in Uther's eyes. Bad most probably.

His pulled his attention briefly back to his knights, trying to work out how he could appear impressive in his father's eyes, when Guinevere's voice, raised in anger, suddenly pulled his attention away yet again.

She was shouting at a guard, apparently berating him for trying to scold the little boy. He smiled affectionately, and grinned at the memory of the times she'd turned that tone towards him – and the main reason that he'd even noticed Morgana's modest little servant in the first place. Like the time she had scolded him for turning down Hunith's food that time they were in Ealdor, or when she'd berated him for being so inconsiderate whilst he was staying at her home and then again, last week, when she'd told him off for telling Merlin off – although Arthur was pretty confident he'd been in the right that time.

He suddenly frowned at the thought, wondering how his friend was faring - the image of the young man's pale, bruised body, now intruding alarmingly on his thoughts.

" _I hope you're alright, Merlin."_

"Now, if you guards spent more time doing the job you were actually paid for and less time harassing little children, Camelot might not have half the problems it currently has," Guinevere finished her rant to much applause and several giggles. Arthur was torn between amusement and annoyance. Alright, so he knew their security wasn't the best, but this perhaps wasn't the very best place to advertise the fact.

"Sire!"

He quickly turned towards Lancelot's fearful voice to find his friend's hands empty and the mace he'd recently been aiming towards Gwaine now heading straight towards his head instead.

"Arthur ..."

He had no idea who had called his name that time, but it seemed to be part warning, part question and part instruction, as time seemed to slow down and one further word appeared to sear itself onto his very soul.

_Trust._

Without even thinking about it, Arthur started to raise his hand up, palm forwards towards the mace. One part of his mind screamed at the absurdity of that action, considering what he was facing, but he found himself quite unable to move his feet.

He felt a strange disorientation then, as if there were a part of him that wasn't on this field at all. Strange images, thoughts and emotions seemed to flick through his head and the sound of the field began to fade away. Was this what it felt like in the moments before death, he wondered? Was that why he felt so light headed, so confused, so helpless?

The foreign emotions he was experiencing were intensifying: pain and fear, love and loss and … so much pain. Then there was a sense of loneliness and isolation, but also of joy and strength as a strange, warm energy suddenly flowed through his body. As Arthur realised this, his arm was raised higher, seemingly without his control, and a strange tingle started to gather in the centre of his hand. His palm was now pointing forwards and the Prince felt the warm energy he'd just noticed travel towards his fingers. Then, there was a sudden shimmer and a blue haze materialised in front of him, creating a barrier between him and the mace. The weapon hit the strange wall with an unusual sounding crackle and then thudded to the ground at his feet.

Arthur stared at his outstretched hand to find little blue sparks of light flicking across his skin, causing the hairs on the back of his hand to stand up on end. The strange shield flickered once more and then disappeared and, as it did so, those strange thoughts and feelings also left, along with that all encompassing, strangely comforting feeling of energy and warmth, leaving Arthur with a strong sense of emptiness and loss.

Then it was as if his soul returned to his body in force as the reality of everything suddenly hit home. Had he done that? What had he done? Was that … magic? He looked around to find himself surrounded by shocked faces, the knights, Guinevere and … his father.

He turned his hand slowly so that his palm was now facing him and then moved it closer looking at it curiously. He frowned, unable to process anything at that particular moment.

"Arthur. Are you alright?" He looked up slowly to see Gwaine standing in front of him looking uncharacteristically worried. He moved his head again to notice that Lancelot, Gwen and his Father were now all leaving, whilst the other knights and most of the rest of the audience were still frozen in shock, much as he was.

"I'm not quite sure what happened there," he began and the shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy. His voice seemed a little strange – distance – as if it didn't quite belong to him.

"You're not the only one. Look, you seem a little pale, are you sure you're alright?"

"Hmm. I think ... Perhaps I should sit down. I'm feeling a bit dizzy."

"Right, can't have you fainting, can we? Then everyone else will have to start calling you 'Princess' too and we can't have that, can we?" Arthur felt that he should respond to that in some way but, right now, he was struggling to even stay upright.

The knight grabbed him firmly by both shoulders and manoeuvred him off the field and sat him down on a low wall out of the immediate sight of most of the others.

"Was that … do you think that was … magic, Gwaine?" he managed at last.

"You tell me? You were the one waving your arm all over the place."

"But, you need to study it, don't you? You need to learn spells and say silly words and ..." He paused again. "Did my eyes change colour?"

"Ah, I'm not sure. I don't think so, and you certainly didn't say anything."

"But I felt … something."

"Better not tell your father that, better try and convince him that someone else cast the spell."

"Who would do that? Why would they do that?"

"What, use magic in Camelot or save your life? Beats me, either way?" At last Arthur managed to glare at Gwaine and he nodded. "Good, that looks more like you. Why don't you go back to your chambers, Arthur, and I'll send Merlin to you. Where is he, anyway?"

"With Gaius." He shook his head again. "Yes, I think I'd like to go back inside now."

Still rather dazed, Arthur allowed the knight to help him all the way up to his chambers and settle him on his bed, before he headed out of the room, promising to return with copious amounts of alcohol to help take the Prince's mind off things.

Arthur flopped back onto his bed with a sigh, trying to make sense of what had just happened, but nothing helped. No matter how hard to thought about it or tried to make sense of it there was no answer that could make him feel any better. Suddenly determined, Arthur decided not to wait for Gwaine to return and strode out of his door, walking quickly and confidently towards Gaius' chambers.

Upon entering he noticed that there was no sign of the physician but that Merlin was now sitting up in Gaius' bed and talking to the female patient that had seen before. The pair looked considerably better than they had earlier but showed clear evidence of their adventures, both still pale and covered in numerous cuts and bruises.

"Arthur!" said Merlin, half surprised, half pleased. He started to get up but then quickly sat down back down on the edge of the bed, shaking his head.

"Careful, Merlin, that was some fall you took earlier."

"Yes, and my head's not as thick as yours."

"Hey, watch what you're saying."

"Certainly it's not used to taking as many knocks as yours is." Arthur opened his mouth to object to that statement too, but quickly realised he couldn't deny the accuracy of it. Merlin saw his hesitation and grinned broadly.

"Merlin, I need a word with you," Arthur said, trying hard not to make it sound too much like a command. His servant tipped his head curiously, as if quite aware that something was bothering his master before giving him a smile and a nod.

"Well leave you to rest then, Mary," the young man said with a friendly smile, standing up a little more cautiously and walking slowly towards the main door. "I wouldn't worry about your son, I'm sure Gaius will be back with news soon."

"Hang on, should you be leaving yet, Merlin? What will Gaius say?" said Arthur, stopping his servant with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You know, he did say you should take it easy for the rest of the day," Mary interrupted, before flushing slightly at speaking so forcefully in the Prince's presence.

"Oh, did he now?" said Arthur turning his stern gaze on Merlin.

"Yes, but then Mary will need peace and quiet too." He paused, suddenly thoughtful. "My room?" he asked with his usual silly smile.

"Go on then," said Arthur. "I must admit, the idea of being able to hide somewhere out of the way is quite appealing at the moment."

"Oh, who are you trying to avoid?"

"Just about everyone, especially my father."

"What have you done now, Arthur?"

"I don't know exactly but I think … it had something to do with … magic." Merlin was half way up the short flight of stairs leading to his room as he said the last word and missed his footing in surprise, Arthur quickly grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Watch it! Honestly, Merlin. Lie down before you fall down, you idiot." Merlin gave him a weak grin before doing what he was told.

"What were you saying about m-magic, Arthur?" he asked nervously as slowly eased himself down on his ridiculously tiny bed, wincing a little due to his various cuts and bruises.

"I'm not sure, there was this accident during training and … I'm not quite sure why I put my hand out rather than ducking but … then there was this strange blue light in front of me and the mace hit that instead. Everyone was there and they all think it was me."

"Including your father?" Merlin asked with a frown.

"Yes, trust him to choose this day to go for a walk."

"Ah," his servant said with a wince.

"But Gwaine said my eyes didn't change colour and I certainly don't know any spells and …" He frowned slightly. "I did feel a bit strange though, as if I wasn't all there."

"Well apparently it is possible to have magic inside you without actually learning how to use it," said Merlin carefully.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Gaius says so, yes," Merlin replied promptly with a small smirk, although Arthur was sure he couldn't see what he found funny.

"But, could I use it without knowing I was? Could I do it without any thought at all?"

"That's a difficult one," the young man replied seriously, a small frown on his usual cheerful face. "An act like that could be instinctive but still, you would need some awareness of what you were doing, some sense that it had come from you, like … if you _had_ ducked when the mace approached. You wouldn't have actually thought about it at the time but, afterwards, you would know that it was you that had done it. So, if you're saying that you don't think it was you … well, then it probably wasn't." Arthur gave him a long hard look, surprised at how confidently Merlin had delivered this last sentence and the young man swallowed hard. "Ah .. I would guess ..." he finished weakly.

"But, Father was there.  He _saw_ it."

"Which won't exactly help his recovery, will it? But, then again, I'm sure it'll be easy enough for Gaius to convince the King that he didn't quite see what he thought he saw, that someone else cast it." Merlin pulled a face. "There'll be an enquiry I expect."

"I'm sure there will be but, at least you're in the clear this time, eh, Merlin?" Arthur continued with a relaxed smile. "It's not as if it's possible to do magic whilst you're unconscious, is it?"

Merlin suddenly sat bolt upright. "W-what?" His eyes were wide and his gaze flicking quickly from side to side as his brain apparently started to work overtime.

"What? What is it?"

"N-nothing," Merlin stuttered, biting his lip and looking a bit confused. "Ah, why don't you tell me more about what you felt when the magic happened, Arthur. I've, ah … I've learnt quite a bit about such things from Gaius recently, perhaps I can help you to figure it out?"

~o~0~o~

* * *

**6\. Merlin**

"Merlin? Time to wake up, my boy." Merlin groaned and buried himself further under his sheets. "You know that's not going to help, don't you?" Gaius' voice sounded amused. "You'll only be late again and you know what Arthur will think about that?"

He was right, of course but there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. Not enough to complete all the work and chores he had and certainly not enough to get the sleep his body seemed to so desperately crave. He pulled himself up into sitting position, hoping that would give him time to come around a bit more without falling back asleep and then, very slowly, started to get up and dressed.

He had barely made it down the stairs when the main door flew open and Lancelot ran in shouting something about a horse and an accident. Merlin's thoughts instantly flicked to that lovely new animal Arthur had acquired recently and hoped it wasn't him. He was really a sweet young horse just … a bit wilful and highly misunderstood. He could certainly relate to that.

Gaius left leaving Merlin with instructions to give the King his morning medicine and so, after finishing his breakfast, the young warlock collected what he needed and headed off to the Royal apartments, knocking on Uther's door with a certain amount of trepidation.

"What are you doing here?" Uther demanded as he entered.

"I've come to give you your medicine, Sire," Merlin replied, doing his very best to sound respectful and act like a proper servant for a change.

"No, no. It should be Gaius or … that pretty dark girl," Uther complained, turning back to the window.

"Sorry, Sire, but both Gaius and Gwen are busy this morning and so … you'll have to put up with me, I'm afraid." Uther turned briefly back to him and glared, although Merlin couldn't imagine what he'd said wrong this time. When the King turned his attention away again, Merlin took the opportunity to tidy up the room, marvelling on just how many items of clothing had managed to end up on the floor.

" _Like Father, like son,"_ he thought as he worked.

"Uther muttered something which Merlin was unable to make out but, satisfied that the room was now at least fairly tidy, the young man made his way back over to the King - who was still staring out of the window - and offered him the medicine, quite aware that such a suggestion could lead to a serious battle of wills at times. To his great surprise the King accepted the potion instantly and even seemed grateful for the small glass of wine Merlin offered him to take the taste away.

"You're Gaius' boy and … Arthur's servant?" The King said then and Merlin, confident the King's attention was elsewhere, raised his eyes to the ceiling at the question. Such forgetfulness could be put down to Uther's illness if it wasn't for the fact that Merlin knew that he had been like that in regard to servants for as long as he had known him.

"Yes, Sire. I'm Merlin."

"I knew that." Uther continued to stare out of the window.

"It looks like a nice day, doesn't it, Sire." Merlin said, finding himself missing the usual conversation and banter that was always part of his morning work. "Why don't you go for a walk this morning? I know it's supposed to be an unlucky day today but I'm sure you don't believe in such superstitious nonsense, do you? I think a walk would do you good, don't you agree? Get you up and about? Look, it's warm and sunny out there and I'm sure Gaius wouldn't object. What do you say? How about we just ..."

"Shut up, _Mer_ lin," Uther suddenly said with such a familiar inflection that Merlin couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What's so funny."

"Nothing … it's just that's exactly how … oh, never mind. Shall I get your personal servant to dress you or would you rather return to bed?"

"No, no. A walk. That would be quite acceptable but, _you_ can attend me this morning."

"Me? But Arthur, ah, I mean  _Prince_  Arthur … it's just that he's really … I mean, I should ..." A stern glare from Uther quickly silenced him. "Yes, of course, Sire. " The boy gave a totally unsubtle sigh. "What would you like to wear today?"

Merlin found himself quite distracted as he continued to dress the King even as he talked at the same time - as was his custom. It was strange to note so many similarities between father and son, when he was adamant that the pair were worlds apart in terms of philosophy. He hoped that wasn't a bad sign, hoped that he could continue to influence the Prince in the right way. Arthur had changed, hadn't he? He wasn't going to be a blond copy of his father, was he?

"Do you always talk this much?" Uther said, interrupting Merlin's enthusiastic opinion on Arthur's beautiful horse.

"Ah well, yes, Sire. I suppose I do."

"And how long have you been my son's servant now?"

"Let's see about … five years?"

"And he's put up with you this long because …?" the King asked. Merlin felt briefly hurt by this comment but the emotion didn't last for long. Like Arthur, he suspected the King was not always as serious as he liked to make out.

"I think perhaps I amuse him, Sire?"

"The boy always did have an odd sense of humour," the King muttered in response.

All in all, Merlin was delighted to be able to leave Uther so that he could get on with his usual duties but, of course, he was now running even later than usual. So, he sprinted down to the kitchen taking the stairs two at a time, and ran back up with a full tray. Depositing the food on the Prince's table with the minimum of explanation, he pelted back down, this time to the armoury before approaching Arthur's door for a second time, quite unable to see where he was going.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot boy!" A stern voice on the other side of the pile of armour caused him to stop so suddenly that he dropped the whole lot on the floor. The King raised his eyes to the ceiling and continued on his way out for his walk, whilst Merlin groaned and started to pick all the pieces back up again.

"Sorry, you see ... it's like this ..." he said breathlessly as he pushed open the door with his back and deposited the armour on the table. "Lancelot came to get Gaius because there was an accident and so Gaius asked me to go and give your father his medicine but then the King wanted me to stay and help him dress so that he could go out for a walk and so obviously I couldn't say no and so I did that and then..."

"Enough, fine … I get it. If you carry on like that we're going to be even more late for training."

"You're not going to put me in the stocks?" Merlin asked, surprised Arthur wasn't giving him a hard time.

"Don't tempt me," he growled. Then again.

"Alright so, let's get you ready."

"You better not have dented that when you dropped it outside."

"Oh, did you hear that? Sorry but I was trying to make up for lost time after everything that's been going on but then, it's not really surprising seeing it's a Dismal Day."

"A what?" Arthur asked baffled, looking out at the bright blue sky outside.

"You know? Dies mali? Dies Aegyptiaci? One of twenty four days in the year that the Egyptians believed to be unlucky?" Arthur stared even harder and Merlin winced slightly. Not that he didn't enjoy showing the Prince that he was actually intelligent and well read, but it was still probably best to maintain to his role as Camelot's idiot for most of the time, as it was likely the main reason he was no longer routinely suspected when magic regularly happen around him.

"Superstitious nonsense," Arthur replied eventually and Merlin allowed his genuine amusement at Arthur's discomfort to show. It really was fun to show the Prince that his servant as actually more intelligent than he was.

"Right, all ready," Merlin chirped brightly.

"About time. You do realise how late we are, don't you?"

"Sorry," he replied automatically as they made their way out of the door. "Of course, you do know you were born on a Dismal Day, don't you?" he continued without thinking. He briefly wondered if he should continue with this, mention a few other facts about the so called 'Egyptian Days,' However the words were barely out of his mouth when he realised his mistake. There was a very good reason why Arthur did not especially enjoy his birthdays.

"Watch it, Merlin," Arthur snarled at him and he held up his hands in apology, suddenly feeling very guilty. He instinctively backed away, opening his mouth to say sorry, when he felt his foot slip on the step and started to fall.

Then there was pain and fear, more pain and finally darkness.

"Merlin!"

~o~0~o~

There was darkness and pain and the sound of distant voices. He could hear them, just out of reach, but could not seem to open his eyes or talk. There was no real sense of time, no real awareness of what was going on outside of his head but then, suddenly he felt a push on his mind, a voice trying to be heard. He followed the source and thought he heard Arthur – quiet but worried.

"I hope you're alright, Merlin."

"Alright? Yes. Why?" There was no response to his questions but he could still feel the presence there. He followed it and then … suddenly … there was danger.

"Sire!"

Merlin seemed to be hovering above the training field, like a ghost separated from his body.

" _I fell down the stairs,"_ he thought to himself. _"Does that mean that I'm dead?"_ Strangely, the thought didn't especially concern him at the moment, but the sight of a mace arching towards Arthur's unprotected head was another matter entirely.

_Of course, Arthur. That's just brilliant. I follow you to every boring meeting, every impossible quest, every ridiculous hunt, just to ensure that you don't get killed before your time and what do you do? You get yourself into trouble on the one and only morning in months that I'm not by your side to save you. Prat!_

_So now what, Arthur? What's the point of this glorious destiny we share if you're going to get yourself killed by a stray weapon during training. Clotpole! How do you expect me to save you now?_

_And you call me an idiot._

Time had no meaning here. There was no rush, he just had to work out which spell he could use to protect his Prince even though he knew, instinctively, that there was only one that he could realistically cast in his current state. If he really was dead then it wouldn't matter if Arthur remembered this but, the bigger problem was … would the Prince agree to it because, if he had even the slightest doubt, the spell wouldn't work and what was the chances of the Crown Prince of Camelot putting his life and his very consciousness into someone else's hands.

Or to be more accurate, what was the chance of Arthur agreeing to swap his soul with Merlin's.

_Not sure I'm that keen on the idea, either._

"Arthur, you need to trust me ..." He pushed the thought into his friend's head and tried to judge the result. Arthur did not have any significant amount of inherent magic, and so it was no easy task to talk telepathically as he could with other sorcerers. As such, it seemed that any communication they shared would be on a subconscious level which, the young warlock mused, was probably just as well.

"Merlin?"

"Arthur, do you trust me?"

"Yes." He had to admit that had been a lot easier than he thought but, unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"You are in danger, only I can help but … I need to get inside your head. Do you _'Trust'_ me?" It was more than a word. It was an emotion and a concept - a state of being.

"I trust you with my life, Merlin."

The calm, total acceptance had the young warlock reeling with it's implications. Arthur would never say that to his face but here, of course, they were exchanging thoughts and emotions in order to communicate. There could be no lying, there could be no evasions. There could be no rough affection hidden behind rude insults.

"And I trust you with mine. Just relax, this won't take long." Merlin cast the spell and then suddenly he was there, on the field, in Arthur's body. The scene in front of him appeared frozen, the field full of people who heard Lancelot's shout and had now turned, fearful for their Prince, but quite unable to help. Slowly Merlin focused on Arthur's arm and raised it towards the mace as strange, unfamiliar memories and emotions started to flit though his mind. Part of his consciousness was here inside Arthur but, much of the Prince still remained. He looked at each of the people in front of him and saw them in a new light, instantly knew how Arthur felt about each of them – which was, on the whole, very different to his own feelings. Certainly he knew he'd have trouble looking at Gwen in quite the same way after all this was over.

Looking at Uther without feeling any anger, fear or pity was strange too. Poor Arthur, he never had and now probably never would receive the love and affection that he craved from his father even though Merlin, emotionally detached in many ways, could now see those very things etched firmly on the King's fear filled face.

Time was crawling forwards and, as Arthur's palm finally faced the mace, Merlin cast the easier of the two spells, and so it was his eyes, currently still in Gaius' chambers, that glowed gold, and not Arthur's here on the field. Merlin watched dispassionately as the blue and silver shield flickered into life in front of Arthur's raised palm and briefly had the opportunity to enjoy the fact that he'd just performed magic in front of all his friends, plus the King, and was still likely be around next week to tell the tale. He'd long since dismissed the idea that he was dead. Unconscious perhaps, but definitely not dead.

Of course, the big problem now was that, as far as everyone else was concerned, Arthur had just performed magic in front of half of Camelot. That could be awkward, Merlin thought unemotionally but then, Uther had always found it impossible to even entertain the idea that Morgana might have magic so this should be easy enough to explain away.

Anyway, all of that was unimportant. What was important was that the mace was now hitting the shield, Arthur was alive and all Merlin had to do now was cast the spell that would swap them back again. He took the opportunity to look at all his friends once more though Arthur's eyes, and also received a slightly unnerving - albeit highly satisfying - flash of the Prince's thoughts regarding him. Then, with a blink of Arthur's eyes, Merlin was back in the dark, back in his own body, lying on a bed in Gaius' chambers having fallen down ten stone steps earlier, with only one thought currently occupying his mind.

"Ow."

~o~0~o~

Merlin opened his eyes with a great effort, quite aware from the unique scent in the air that he was in the main physician's chambers.

"Hello, Merlin?" A quiet female voice calling his name, was all he needed to finally open his eyes, and he turned his head towards the sound, wincing at little at the pain in his head. A woman was sitting up on the main patient's bed close to him, her face pale and covered in cuts, a bandage wrapped around her head.

"Ah yes … ah, hello?"

"Sorry, I'm Mary. I had an accident too."

"Accident …?" He paused for a moment before suddenly remember how his day had started. "Oh yes … a horse?" She nodded with a wry smile. "And stairs?" he continued.

"Ah, that was you, I think."

"Yes. Lots of stone steps," he said wincing, "but … Arthur ….?"

"I'm afraid I don't know much – I've only just come around myself. The King has just summoned Gaius and he told me that we both needed rest and quiet and to watch you to see if you were waking up."

"Oh, alright."

"I'm a bit worried about my son, actually. I was about to ask Gaius if he knew anything but then … he seemed so concered about you and then that guard came and then..."

"Your son?" Merlin interrupted.

"Yes, we were together in the courtyard when the horse bolted and…" She frowned, tears forming in her eyes. "Then I have no idea what happened to him after that."

Merlin was just about to reassure her, when the main door burst opened and Prince Arthur strode in. Despite his confident stance, Merlin could instantly see that something wasn't quite right, his face was pale, his eyes wide.

"Arthur." Instinct made him scramble quickly to get up but, as he did so, the room spun violently and he quickly sat back down again.

"Careful, Merlin, that was some fall you took earlier," said the Prince, his voice not betraying any of the emotion that Merlin had just witnessed.

"Yes, and my head's not as thick as yours," he quickly retorted.

~o~0~o~

Merlin was now lying on his small bed in his own bedchamber, whist Arthur was sitting on a stool informing him of the events on the training field that morning and that everyone, including his father, had just seen him perform magic. At first the whole thing seemed so bizarre, that Merlin decided that he must still be unconscious and this was all some very peculiar dream.

It was also very strange to be having a calm conversation about magic with the Prince of Camelot. Merlin was struggling to know what to say to him, trying to be scientific about it as Gaius would be when, all the time, he knew for a fact that Arthur did not have anywhere near enough inherent magic to perform such a feat, even if he had studied the art since childhood.

Still, there was no way he could say that, so he continued to talk about it all as if he'd read about it in a book, or as if Gaius was telling him these things which, he also decided, was a good excuse for any future conversations, and a way for Arthur to slowly accept the skills his servant actually had.

"But, Father was there.  He _saw_ it," Arthur repeated, bringing Merlin's mind back to the most important issue.

"Which won't exactly help his recovery, will it? But, then again, I'm sure it'll be easy enough for Gaius to convince the King that he didn't quite see what he thought he saw, that someone else cast it." Merlin pulled a face. "There'll be an enquiry I expect."

"I'm sure there will be but, at least you're in the clear this time, eh, Merlin?" Arthur continued with a relaxed smile. "It's not as if it's possible to do magic whilst you're unconscious, is it?" Merlin suddenly sat bolt upright, a memory suddenly slamming home. Since he'd woken up he'd not had time to think about the accident or anything that might have happened afterwards.

"What? What is it?" Arthur asked, obviously noticing his panic. It wasn't as if Merlin could actually remember anything specific but, there was something of a memory there, like a dream he could almost recall but, of course, that wasn't what really had got his attention. From what Arthur had just described, and Gaius had told him after the poisoned chalice incident, it looked like history might have repeated itself today and he had, indeed, performed magic whilst unconscious.

"N-nothing," Merlin stuttered, biting his lip and looking a bit confused. "Ah, why don't you tell me more about what you felt when the magic happened, Arthur. I've, ah … I've learnt quite a bit about such things from Gaius recently, perhaps I can help you to figure it out?"

The Prince gave him a long, hard look, obviously wondering why Merlin seemed quite so flustered, when the door opened and Gaius looked in, a weak smile on his face as he saw the two together.

"Hello, Gaius, I'm awake," said Merlin cheerfully.

"So I see," the old man replied with another attempt at a smile.

"You alright?"

"Just very tired – it's been one of those mornings. I've just been with your father, Arthur."

"Ah.  How is he?"

"Confused but, he has now at least decided that he was mistaken and that he couldn't possibly have seen you performing magic."

"I thought that would happen," said Merlin with a confident nod. "So, who's he blaming instead?" Both Arthur and Gaius shot him a dark look but the young warlock shrugged – not at all apologetic.

"He's holding a trial this afternoon. Any insights, Sire?" Gaius asked.

"Not really, I've just been talking to Merlin about it, seeing that he's obviously been picking certain things up from you. Not sure I entirely approve of that though, I have to say."

"I would apologise, Sire, but I thought it made sense to do so. Otherwise, who will you turn to for help about such things when I'm not around?" He waved his hand at the pair, as he said this, proving his point – considering their topic of conversation.

"Fair point." Arthur agreed with a nod. He stood up and started to head towards the door. "Well, I expect you need to check Merlin over, make sure there's no serious damage? Although, how you're going to tell the difference from his normal state is beyond me." He flashed Merlin a satisfied smile as he left the room.

"Hey!"

~o~0~o~

* * *

**Epilogue**

The inquest happened the following morning and Merlin looked on in patient amusement as witness after witness came to give their evidence and were able to provide fool proof alibis for themselves and several other people that were around that morning, including Uther's chief suspect, the little boy John, who Gwen was able to confirm had her head buried in her skirts during the incident itself and hadn't made a sound.

There was no-one on the field that morning that could realistically be accused of magic except for Arthur himself and, interestingly, not one single person tried to do so.

"I saw a blue, magical wall appear in front of Prince Arthur," everyone said and Uther, of course, did not bother to question them further about it.

"The next and … last witness ..." Uther said then, the frustration in his voice quite obvious as he looked back at his list. "... is Merlin."

He stood up and walked to the front of the hall repeating the gesture of everyone that had come before him - a deep bow to Uther and then another to Arthur. He'd been in this situation so many times before but, today felt the most relaxed he ever had. He was in no doubt that he'd had _something_ to do with Arthur's magic trick yesterday but, the fact that even _he_ didn't know what had happened, helped back up all the evidence that said he was totally innocent.

"Describe your morning for us," Uther said.

"Well, I was eating breakfast when Sir Lancelot came in to tell Gaius about the accident in the square," he started. "Mary here had been run over by Arthur's new horse and so he went to help and asked me to attend … you, Sire. As you no doubt recall."

"Impossible to forget, in fact," Uther muttered and Arthur turned a surprised look on his father and then to Merlin who grinned sheepishly.

"So," Merlin continued. "Once I left you, I ran down to the kitchens to collect Prince Arthur's breakfast and after delivering that, ran back down to the armoury to collect his stuff for training and then ran back up to help him change before leaving for the training field a little late, for obvious reasons."

"Then what happened?"

"I fell down the stairs, Sire." There was a pause in the hall, followed by several muffled giggles.

Uther raised both eyebrows before continuing. "Then?"

"Ah … I came around a couple of hours later to find myself in the physician's chambers."

"Hours?"

"I believe so, Sire."

"Gaius, can you confirm that Merlin was unconscious during the incident in question?"

"Yes, Sire. In fact, neither him or Mary were awake and, as far as I can tell, I was attending both of them at the time."

"Very well, that will be all, Merlin." Uther sounded highly disappointed.

~o~0~o~

After the unsuccessful trial, Gaius helped the King back to his room and Merlin rushed back to the physician's chambers to continue the research he and his mentor had started that morning. When Gaius returned it was to see the young man surround by numerous books, shaking his head in frustration.

"So, have you worked out exactly how this is all your fault yet?" The old man asked.

"Hey, that's not fair – I was unconscious." Gaius grinned and Merlin smiled weakly back. "Well, actually I've been struggling to remember anything at all but, after hearing all the evidence this morning, a few other little memories have started to return. So, yes, I think I did somehow use magic to save him but, like that last time, I've absolutely no idea how I managed it or what spell I used."

"So, yet again, you've managed to protect Arthur whilst you were incapacitated." The memories briefly flitted in and out of Merlin's head again and he groaned as he struggled to grab hold of them. "Only this time you really have me baffled. I just can't see how you did it."

"It took me over a year to find that guiding spell after that incident with the poisoned chalice," Merlin complained, sitting slowly down at the table and accepting the water Gaius was offering him. "I still can't understand how I can perform magic subconsciously when I haven't actually learnt the spells at the time."

"Neither can I, but I decided long ago not to try to understand your ridiculous magic, far too much like hard work." Merlin gave him a weak grin and continued to look through his magic book. "Are you in pain?" Gaius asked and he nodded, for once accepting Gaius' remedy without complaint.

"There were differences this time though, weren't there?" Merlin continued after taking the potion. "This time I was totally unconscious and you said there was no manifestation of my magic whilst I was here in the room, unlike before?"

"No, I think I'd remember a large blue wall appearing in my chambers," Gaius replied with a small smile. I did think I heard you mutter something once or twice but, checking up on you, you seemed totally out of it and I thought I must of imagined it. I wouldn't worry about it, Merlin. No-one, not even Arthur has been accused, after all."

"That's not the point, Gaius. I have to know what I did. Surely you're curious too?"

"Of course, I didn't say don't keep researching – just not to worry. So, you can't find the spell that creates that wall? No offence, but I thought that would be pretty easy for someone like you."

"Oh, it is," Merlin said casually holding out a hand, palm out flat in front of him and chanted a spell whilst still calmly flicking through his book. There was a shimmer and a low buzz and a seven foot high, blue glowing wall appeared in front of him.

Gaius jumped up in shock. "Good grief, boy. Give me some warning, would you?"

"Sorry," Merlin said, now turning to look at this creation carefully. He tipped his head, contemplating. "The problem is that this shield's personal, Gaius, it's practically attached to my hand and I wouldn't be able to make it appear somewhere else, especially not over that sort of distance. For it to have appeared to have come from Arthur means that I would have to… Oh!" He dropped his hand suddenly and the shield promptly disappeared.

"What?"

"But that's … impossible."

"As I've said before, not a word I bother to use in regard to you any more."

"But, it couldn't work because..."

"Yes?"

"To do that, Arthur would have had to…"

"Merlin, will you _please_ finish your sentences."

"It's in my book, Gaius. Here…" He held a hand over the book and concentrated, several of the pages then quickly turned by their own accord before stopping in the right place. Quickly checking, Merlin nodded and turned it towards Gaius who, despite his earlier 'impossible' comment was looking at his ward opened-mouthed at this casual use of such impressive magic. "What?"

"Nothing," the old man said, starting to read the page in front of him. He then suddenly sat bolt upright. "Merlin, this could be it but..." He looked up at the young man who was shaking his head. "...but are you saying that for this to work you would have to get into Arthur's head, literally possess him?"

"Pretty much but it's more than that, Gaius. This is less a possession and more a swapping of consciousnesses and, the problem with that is, that I can't do it without his permission."

"Ah..."

"So, not only was I in a different place physically, I was unconscious and so how could I have asked permission?"

"Telepathically?"

"He's still got to agree. He's still got to say, 'yes, of course I'll swap consciousnesses with you so that you can let me perform magic in my body,'.  Never mind the fact he has practically no inherent magic for telepathy to work with him, anyway."

"True, but you do have a remarkable strong bond with him, Merlin. That could have made all the difference."

"Don't you start," he replied sulkily.

"I'm not teasing, I'm being serious. It says here that for this to work the vessel has to trust the sorcerer totally. Put all of their faith in him."

"Gaius, this is Arthur we're talking about here."

"You don't think he trusts you?"

"Well, he… Oh!"

"Merlin..." Gaius' response was part question, part frustration. There was a very long pause as, suddenly, the whole memory returned to the young warlock in a rush.

He looked up with Gaius with large tearful eyes. "I remember now," he said quietly. "Somehow, whilst I was unconscious I was drawn to him … I think because he was worrying about me at the time. That was probably how the telepathic link was formed. I still can't say exactly how I did it but I sensed the danger, through him and slowed time enough to made a connection. I remember worrying that he would recognise my voice but, there was no time and I couldn't think of any other spell, so I asked him if he trusted me – without question or hesitation and he said 'yes' and then... we swapped consciousnesses. Most of me was there and most of him was here - it was very strange. Then I cast the barrier spell to protect him and then ... I left." The swallowed hard as his voice cracked on the last word.

"Merlin, what is it?"

"He said…" he blinked hard, fighting back ridiculous tears. "...he said 'I trust you with my life, Merlin,' I mean, I know he didn't _actually_ say it but … he thought it and felt it and … Gaius, there have been times recently when I never thought he would see me as anything as his idiot servant and yet today, there inside his head I realised..."

"Yes?"

"I realised that he'd accepted me years ago - he's just been too proud to admit it."

~o~0~o~

They were still talking at the table when Arthur strode into the room, looking rather more like his old self. Merlin instinctively slammed his magic book closed and placed a more innocent one on the top.

"Why looking so guilty, you two?" Arthur asked with a weak smile.

"We were researching as per your instructions, Sire," Gaius replied. "Some of these books are not exactly on Camelot's permitted reading list."

"Ah, well, I'll just ignore them then," Arthur replied and Merlin gaped at both of them for their calm reaction. The Prince saw the look and laughed. "I asked Gaius earlier to use all and every means available to discover what happened yesterday morning."

"You did?"

"Thanks for your faith in me, Merlin. I'd like to think that I'm a little more open-minded than my father."

"Yes, yes. Of course, I knew that."

"So, what have you discovered?" Arthur asked and Gaius exchanged a nervous glance with Merlin.

"It does appear to be the case that a sorcerer cast the spell that saved your life, Sire," Gaius continued carefully. "I believe that he occupied your body for a short while in order to cast the spell more affectively."

Arthur looked understandably horrified at the thought. "I was possessed by a sorcerer? But that's … terrible. He could have made me do anything."

"That's not true," said Merlin a little too passionately. Arthur turned to him and he coloured. "W-what I mean is that he didn't, did he? He just saved your life."

"I see, that's true and I suppose it was a pretty clever away of hiding – making it look as if it was me that cast the spell so that he wouldn't be suspected." He frowned suddenly. "How close would he have had to be? Would it have had to be someone on the field as Father suspected?"

"I believe that would all depend on the sorcerer's power," said Gaius with a glance at Merlin, who tried to hide a grin. The truth, as it happened. Few other sorcerers would have been able to perform such a complex spell from that distance, even if they had been awake.

"When … when I was possessed I … felt things," said Arthur carefully. "There were thoughts, emotions and memories in my head that were not my own." Merlin and Gaius exchanged a nervous look which Arthur instantly misinterpreted as disbelieve. "I know it doesn't make any sense but … I felt … so many strong emotions and this strange energy flowing through me. Powerful, comforting, warm and … beautiful and then … it was all gone." Merlin looked up at Arthur for long enough to see tears forming in the Prince's eyes at the memory before he had to duck his head again, for fear of shedding his own.

Arthur had been in his head, felt his emotions _and_ his magic and so had briefly, subconsciously, seen and sensed the real him. It made him feel a little uncomfortable but also, strangely happy, as if that brief glimpse might just be enough for Arthur to overcome his father's prejudice when the time came for Merlin to reveal what he actually was.

"That energy was that … was that the sorcerer's magic? Is that what it feels like?" The Prince asked the physician, awe quite obvious in his voice.

"What you have described does indeed sound a little familiar," Gaius said carefully, whilst Merlin kept his head down, still fighting silly tears.

"I can see why Father says it corrupts then. I mean … it felt wonderful but … almost _too_ good – I can easily see how sorcerers could allow such power to go to their head."

"You will forgive me if I don't agree that would happen to everyone?" Gaius replied, sounding a little put out and Arthur nodded, still obviously highly distracted by the memory. "Anyway," Gaius continued. "It seems as if you have found yourself a guardian angel, Sire, and I suggest you simply take comfort from the fact."

"Yes, yes … that has happened before. In the caves when I was looking for the Morteous flower. I knew there was someone looking out for me then but events since then have..." he shook his head. "Thank you Gaius." He shook himself and suddenly looked at his servant closely. "Do you think Merlin's well enough to work this afternoon?"

"I believe so, as long as he takes plenty of breaks."

"Thank you and, well, I was planning on giving you the rest of the day off, Merlin," he continued, "but I'm afraid I still have a problem with that young horse."

"I'm sure he didn't _mean_ to hurt anyone," Merlin said and Arthur looked amused at his heartfelt words.

"You're probably right, but Lancelot's saying that the colt won't let him get close after everything that happened yesterday and the stable master is still adamant that he needs to be destroyed."

"No!" Merlin shouted, standing up suddenly and knocking a couple of books on the floor in the process.

"I'm not that keen on the idea either," said the Prince with a shrug. "So, I thought I might take you up on your offer … seeing Lancelot is convinced that you can succeed where we've all failed."

"Thank you, Sire. Just you see, I'll have him following you around like a faithful puppy in next to no time."

"I'm not sure I want him doing that," Arthur said with a slight smile. "After all, I have _you_ to fulfil that role for me, don't I."

"Hey!"

"Personally, I still can't see what you can do with him that Lancelot can't. I'm quite sure I'm going to live to regret this - or most probably die – considering what happened in the courtyard yesterday." Arthur glared at Merlin, trying to look stern and, in return, Merlin gave him his very best, wide eyed pathetic look.

"Arthur, I'm hurt," he said a small smile threatening, "I thought that you ... _trusted me with your life_?"

Arthur's stern glare turned to one of surprise and his face suddenly lost all colour as a piece of memory started to return. Merlin walked past the still stunned Prince with a big grin on his face.

"See you later, Gaius," he called out over his shoulder. "Got to go and see a man about a horse!"

~o~0~o~


End file.
